2538373 Hyrule9

Hyrule Warriors was released in Japan last week, and it appears that the unprecedented level of promotion and advertising the game received has paid off. The crossover game holds second place in Japan's charts this week with just shy of 70,000 copies sold. This is certainly a promising figure, and we can only hope for a similarly positive sales report when the game hits Western shops.

Yokai Watch 2 is still in the lead spot, dwarfing all of the competition with nearly 120,000 copies sold this week. Mario Kart 8 has increased its sales by roughly 8,000 compared to last week, and unexpectedly Animal Crossing: New Leaf has seen a return to the charts.

Nintendo's two consoles have managed to muscle their way up to take the top five positions for software this week – a terrifically encouraging statistic. You can see all the sales below with lifetime sales in brackets.

1. [3DS] Yokai Watch 2: Ganso / Honke – 118,526 (2,212,518)
2. [Wii U] Hyrule Warriors – 69,090 (New)
3. [3DS] Yoshi’s New Island – 29,933 (144,162)
4. [Wii U] Mario Kart 8 – 28,221 (627,635)
5. [3DS] Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 2 – 27,273 (108,857)
6. [PSV] Monster Hunter Frontier G Beginners Package – 21,169 (New)
7. [PS3] Ultra Street Fighter IV – 11,604 (53,931)
8. [3DS] Taiko Drum Master: Don and Katsu’s Space-Time Great Adventure – 10,879 (138,721)
9. [3DS] Yokai Watch – 10,420 (1,245,042)
10. [3DS] Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson – 9,624 (56,119)
11. [3DS] Pokemon Art Academy – 6,644 (91,232)
12. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto V Low Price Version – 6,286 (45,283)
13. [3DS] Pokemon X / Y – 6,053 (4,127,888)
14. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 – 5,535 (2,368,112)
15. [3DS] Mario Party: Island Tour – 4,728 (423,075)
16. [3DS] Gundam Try Age SP – 4,705 (41,748)
17. [PSV] Freedom Wars – 4,542 (280,209)
18. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf – 4,447 (3,774,698)
19. [PSV] Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment – 3,984 (238,539)
20. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 – 3,796 (3,327,503)

Hardware sales show an increase for all systems bar the PlayStation 3. The Wii U shows a massive 35% increase in units sold with the 3DS LL not far behind with a 30% rise. Hyrule Warriors and Yokai Watch 2 are undoubtedly the reason behind these encouraging numbers, and with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS not far away, you could safely expect similar if not larger increases in the sales of these two consoles.

Check out the full hardware sales below for yourself – last week's sales are in brackets.

1. 3DS LL – 42,365 (33,172)
2. PlayStation Vita – 20,825 (17,084)
3. Wii U – 18,161 (13,598)
4. 3DS – 9,429 (7,873)
5. PlayStation 4 – 6,913 (5,470)
6. PlayStation 3 – 6,260 (6,486)
7. PlayStation Vita TV – 1,491 (1,344)
8. PSP – 416 (301)
9. Xbox 360 – 160 (151)

Does the impending arrival of Nintendo's fighting crossover fill you with confidence for these machines? Let us know!

[source gematsu.com]